Andretti has been putting in place plans to enter F1 for a while now and, as part of an original push, it had an agreement with Alpine for a partnership for power units as well as possible customer car parts.
It was widely understood that this deal would act as a holding pattern for Andretti while it worked together with GM and its Cadillac brand to help develop its own power unit in the longer term.
However, after the FIA announced last week that it had accepted Andretti’s entry and it was now being passed on to FOM to consider a commercial deal, it has emerged that the plan for customer Alpine/Renault engines is no longer in place.
Speaking to Autosport, Alpine interim team principal Bruno Famin said the situation changed earlier this year when its pre-arrangement lapsed.
“We had a pre-contract with Andretti, which has expired because they were supposed to be granted an F1 entry before a given date,” he said.
“It means right now, if we want to do something with Andretti, we need to negotiate a full contract, a formal contract. So right now, we have absolutely no contract with Andretti.”
Famin explained that, after the option expired several months ago, there have been no further negotiations, and that there were no plans to resume discussions until it was clear from FOM that the Andretti entry was being approved.
Source: Autosport